The Duke men's lacrosse team is ranked second in the national preseason poll released by Inside Lacrosse magazine while nine Blue Devils have earned preseason All-America recognition from the publication. The Blue Devils also were picked to win the ACC title.

Three Duke players -- Matt Danowski, Tony McDevitt and Matt Zash -- were tabbed to the All-America first unit while Zack Greer and Peter Lamade received second team accolades. Casey Carroll and Dan Flannery were third team honorees and Kyle Dowd and Nick O'Hara earned honorable mention citations.

Defending national champion Johns Hopkins is ranked first in the preseason poll followed by Duke, Virginia, Maryland, Syracuse, Georgetown, Navy, Cornell, Massachusetts and Princeton.

Duke, which posted a 17-3 ledger in 2005 and advanced to the NCAA championship game against Johns Hopkins, opens the season on Saturday, February 18 at home versus Butler. Ten of Duke's regular season opponents are ranked in the preseason top 25 poll.

2006 Preseason Poll
1. Johns Hopkins - 1369 (36)
2. Duke - 1354 (17)
3. Virginia - 1223
4. Maryland - 1221 (1)
5. Syracuse - 1150 (1)
6. Georgetown - 1060
7. Navy - 1026
8. Cornell - 996
9. Massachusetts - 894
10. Princeton - 823
11. Towson - 783
12. Notre Dame - 633
13. Penn State - 607
14. North Carolina - 578
15. Army - 472
16. Delaware - 430
17. Dartmouth - 369
18. Albany - 339
19. Hofstra - 316
20. Fairfield - 299
21. Ohio State - 288
22. Denver - 284
23. Loyola - 231
24. Rutgers - 192
25. Bucknell - 174
Others Receiving Votes: Hobart 127; UMBC 113; Brown 100; Stony Brook 78; Villanova 57; Yale 46; Harvard 41; Wagner 20; Binghamton 17; Vermont 17; Pennsylvania 14; Providence 6; Colgate 5; Drexel 5; Lehigh 5; Air Force 4; Manhattan 3; Quinnipiac 1.